00:00If you plan on applying for a mortgage in your golden years, it may be harder than you think.
00:09As reported by Money Talks News, a study from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College,
00:15which looked at 5 million rate and term refinance applications from single borrowers between 2018
00:20and 2020, found that home buyers are more likely to get rejected as they get older,
00:26no matter the lender or mortgage type. Specifically, borrowers between the ages of 60 and 69
00:33were 1.54% more likely to be rejected than borrowers between the ages of 18 and 24,
00:41and borrowers over age 70 were 2.7% more likely to be rejected. Rate and term refinancing allows
00:49borrowers to switch from an existing loan to one with better terms. Across all of these borrowers,
00:55the rejection rate was 17.5%. Additionally, the study found that older men are more likely to be
01:02rejected than older women. While lenders are typically prohibited from determining a borrower's
01:08creditworthiness based on age alone, it can still be taken into account in some circumstances,
01:14according to the Retirement Research Center. If a borrower dies before a loan is paid off,
01:20it may need to be paid off early by their estate or sent into foreclosure, a scenario lenders may want to avoid.
